An Indigo aircraft suffered damage on one of its wings and engine cowling, as a step ladder of Spicejet got detached from its parked position and hit it, following strong winds at the Mumbai airport here on Saturday.

The incident took place at 7.30 am when the Spicejet stepladder belonging to SpiceJet, parked at stand C87 suddenly got detached owing to heavy winds, moved backwards and banged into the IndiGo aircraft parked nearby.

Confirming the incident, the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said that an Indigo aircraft suffered damage on one of its wing and engine cowling.

"Unpredictable cyclonic storms engulfing India have posed a huge challenge for unattended aircraft parked across airports. Due to strong winds, VT-IHN of IndiGo was hit by a ladder of SpiceJet at Mumbai, (causing) some damage to wings and engine cowling," an MIAL spokesperson said.

"This incident occurred at Mumbai airport early this morning. A step ladder belonging to SpiceJet got detached from its parked position and damaged a stationary aircraft belonging to IndiGo. The incident is under investigation by relevant authorities," the IndiGo spokesperson said.

“This morning, a SpiceJet step ladder was parked on stand C87 where one of our aircraft VT-SLA was parked at the Mumbai airport. On stand C86, an Indigo aircraft was parked. Both aircraft were not in service at that time,” a Spicejet spokesperson said.

“Around 7.30 am, sudden strong winds picked up. There was no prior weather warning or advisory. SpiceJet step ladder, which was well secured and with chocks in place, was moved backwards and hit the Indigo aircraft on right wing,” the Spicejet spokesperson said.